Harold Berman
Harold Berman is a fictional character in the Hey Arnold! TV series. He was also one of the original characters (alongside Arnold, Helga and Rhonda) from the comics and claymation shorts. Personality Harold is immature, naive, cowardly, dumb, insecure, and usually kind of obnoxious, but becomes caring and more innocent after the first season. Harold can be considered the bully of the group, even though his bark is usually worse than his bite. Appearance "]] He is somewhat overweight and unintelligent, he's 13 years old and a few years older than the rest of the cast because he was held back a grade in school a couple times, saying that he didn't apply himself. Harold is also known to eat a lot, as exhibited in "Weighing Harold," in which he puts on an enormous amount of weight. Despite being called the bully, he is actually a bit of a crybaby and a bit of coward. He wears a blue baseball cap a light blue short-sleeved jacket with dark blue trimmings over white shirt wear most of his belly sticks out and wears grey shorts with black shoes. He also has yellow eyes (which are sometimes white) and has a large bottom tooth sticking out of his mouth. In the pilot, Harold wears a red shirt with yellow lines and has a light blue version of his cap, his voice is also less deep Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie Harold hasn't really changed in appearance though he appears to have slightly gained more weight. Biography In "Harold the Butcher", it is revealed that Harold has a deep love for meat products. Harold's distinctive features are his considerable stomach and giant misshapen tooth. In some episodes, Harold has yellow eyes, although they're white in the show's opening. He is usually seen with Stinky and Sid. with Mr. Green in "Harold the Butcher"]] Harold is portrayed as something of a backstabber: One day, he's the characters' ally, but then the very next day, he teases them and bullies them. Harold often gloats of his own intellectual or physical superiority, though usually seconds later, he proves himself wrong or is shown up by another character. Despite his frequent posturing, he is also easily frightened and/or upset and frequently cries for his mommy (among other things) while running away or wanting to escape from a situation. Harold also has a budding relationship with Patty Smith. He is of the Jewish faith, as revealed when he invited the other students/friends to his Bar Mitzvah (his Hebrew name is Chaim). Although Harold is portrayed as tough, he occasionally shows a more sensitive side (though he denies it in public). He's also insecure, naive, and whiny. He may also not be as unintelligent as he leads himself to believe. His attendance at the fourth grade, despite him being 13 years old, appears to be strange due to various facts: Harold is seen during several flashbacks dealing with kindergarten events of Arnold's age-group. Being in the same preschool class with the other kids, Harold had to be held back from kindergarten. Considering that Harold might be in fact highly intelligent, this seems to be even more implausible. Others seem to take his age in stride while they make a big deal about Torvald being a 4th grader, even though he's the same age as Harold. In "The Aptitude Test", an accidental mix-up in test results suggests he may be a genius (rather than Helga, who got his pathetic test scores in exchange), resulting in him striving to remain true to this fact. However, neither before, nor after the events of this episode, does Harold show any outstanding intellectual skills. Harold's uncle owns an alligator farm (as revealed in "Return of the Sewer King"). Relationships Patty It's implied that Harold may have a soft spot for 6th grader, Patty Smith. They became close friends in the episode "Hey Harold!" and it continued up to the episode "April Fool's Day". However, at one point, they become rivals in an arm wrestling contest in the episode, "Harold vs. Patty". These episodes also show his true potential and a different and softer side of him. Rhonda It's also implied that Harold could be romantically interested in Rhonda. In the episode "Operation Ruthless", Rhonda is seen pulling Harold to the Love Tunnel's boat while saying, "I know you like me, Harold!" as he tried to resist. Then, in "Love And Cheese", for a brief second, when Arnold and Lila walk to the Tunnel of Love, you can see Harold and Rhonda sitting together in the swan boat. In "Egg Story", Rhonda and Harold are assigned as a couple to take care of an egg. Harold reminds her of their moment in Operation Ruthless (Or possibly Love and Cheese), but Rhonda tries to keep him quiet about it. The egg experience ended with Harold frying the egg and trying to rejoin the shell. Rhonda first got mad, but then forgave Harold when she realized how hard he tried to put the pieces back together, and the two shared a meaningful look. Stinky and Sid For the most part, Harold tends to pal around with Stinky and Sid. The trio often cause trouble, which always results in either them or another character dealing with consequences of their actions. Because of this, several episodes are based around the trio's antics, most notably in "Full Moon", when the trio decide to moon Principal Wartz, only to have Arnold almost take full responsibility for their actions. However on a few occasions Sid and Stinky make fun of Harold (his weight and losing to and being in love with Big Patty). Ironicially, Stinky played the role of sidekick to Harold during his initial portrayal in the first season of the series as a local bully. Trivia * In some episodes, Harold's outer shirt has a red "H" on it, but in other episodes, it's just a plain blue shirt. * Usually, when Harold apologizes in the later parts of Hey Arnold!, the song "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci plays. Possibly because the music was used for his song "Big Ugly Clown-o!" in What's Opera, Arnold?. * His voice actor Justin Shenkarow also voiced Eddie from'' Lloyd in Space and several minor characters on ''Recess. ''Lloyd in Space ''and ''Recess ''are both shows that some of the cast members (such as Toran Caudell, Francesca Marie Smith, Sam Gifaldi and Blake McIver Ewing) have been in. * He is similar to Binky Barnes, a character from ''Arthur. ''They both started as bullies at the start of the series and later, as friends of the hero. They are held back at school. Also, Binky and Harold look similar. * In "Helga's Masquerade", Harold teases Helga about her unibrow, despite the fact that he has one, too. * Harold loves meat (as seen in "Harold the Butcher"). Upon that episode, Harold got to be Mr. Green's apprentice. It is implied that Harold may regularly work at the butcher shop on Mondays after school. * In the pilot, claymation shorts and original comics, Harold wore a red striped shirt and a crown that strongly resembled the one that Jughead from Archie Comics always wore. In the pilot he wore his hat, however it was shown as a turquoise-like color. * A common mistake is that Harold supposedly said the last line of the series (by air date), "Oh no!" in "Phoebe's Little Problem" after he wets himself. Contrary to popular belief "Phoebe's Little Problem" was not the last episode (by air date), instead it was "Grandpa's Packard". * He once cared for a stray kitten he named Cupcake after finding it eating out of garbage cans in the episode "Harold's Kitty". Which shows his light-hearted side. * He is the second character in Arnold's class to be revealed to have been held back a few grades, the first being Torvald. * In the Baseball Uniforms comic, he is seen wearing briefs as his underwear, however in the show he wears boxer shorts. Appears in *See Harold Berman/Appearances Gallery *See Harold Berman/Gallery Berman, Harold Category:Main Characters Berman, Harold Berman, Harold Category:Males Category:Jewish Characters Category:Characters with Monobrows Category:Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie characters Category:6th Graders